Swine flu kills 3 city women, late treatment is blamed

 

Mumbai: The city registered three more deaths on Thursday, all women, due to swine flu. Worryingly, the deaths have brought to the fore the fact that city hospitals have learnt little from last year’s pandemic given that two of these patients got the anti-viral drug Tamiflu much later.
    One of the deceased from Andheri, who was six months pregnant, got Tamiflu at least four to six days after visiting two hospitals. She died at Vile Parle’s Babasaheb Gawde Hospital on Tuesday after being treated at the ICU of the hospital since June 17. The hospital’s assistant medical director Dr Supriya Malshe said that the patient was put on Tamiflu as soon as she was suspected of swine flu—a full two days after her admission.
    This is even as Malshe confirmed that she was admitted with classic symptoms of swine flu like breathlessness and fever. “Only after we saw her X-ray reports did we put her on Tamiflu as we have to be cautious with a pregnant woman,’’ she added. The patient was also suffering from narrowing of the mitral valve of the heart.
Over 40 dental colleges
fail to get recognition
    The Dental Council of India has refused to renew the registration of over 40 colleges, accusing them of not complying with rules. Also, it has not given permission to even a single new college to start undergraduate courses this year. The development has led to the government setting up a panel on the issue. P 17 Swine flu toll six ever since rains began
Similarly, a 58-year-old woman from Thane, who too was suffering from a cardiac condition, was started on Tamiflu more than 24 hours after she was admitted to Zynova Heart Hospital in Ghatkopar. This, despite her hypertensive and diabetic condition, putting her in a high-risk category. Here, too, the hospital’s medical director, Dr A K Sinha, said he was not sure if the patient was administered Tamiflu immediately on admission.
    “The priority was to treat her heart problem,’’ he said, adding that the hospital did get her throat swab collected within a few hours. “She was already quite critical when she was brought in,’’ he said. This patient had also undergone lobectomy wherein a part of her lung was removed about 15 years back.
    The third patient, a 45-yearold woman from Kalyan with a history of hypertension, was treated at INHS Ashwini in Colaba. Head of epidemiology cell of BMC Dr Daksha Shah said, “There was a delay of about two-three days in administering Tamiflu. But, there was also a delay in taking these patients to the hospital.’’
    The swine flu death toll for the city and its peripheral areas now stands at six since the onset of monsoon. So far, 66 people have tested positive in the city since June. “Last year too, we had noticed that a higher number of women fatalities. This could be because they women tend to neglect their health and rush to the doctor only as a last resort,’’ said Shah.